Fayette has lowest census return rating 04.14.10

Is there a census form hiding in that stack of magazines? Did you get form filled out and then forget to mail it back in?

Fayette village administrator Amy Metz is wondering about those missing forms after she learned that Fayette has the lowest return rate in Fulton County. It doesn’t get much better in the township at large.

Steve Brown of the Fulton County Regional Planning Commission reports that Fayette trails the county with a U.S. Census return rate of only 60 percent. Gorham Township has the next lowest rate at 64 percent.

Overall, 77 percent of county residents have returned forms, led by Amboy Township with 83 percent.

Eventually Census workers will begin knocking on doors to track down unsent forms, Brown said, a process that will likely continue through late May.

Metz urges residents to return forms. A full reporting of the population will help the village receive its fair share of state and federal dollars. Similarly, money appropriated at the county level is determined by the population of each community and township.

A national estimate places a loss of about $1,350 a person every year for the 10 years covered by a census when an individual is not counted.